30 Rock: "Hiatus"Review

Share.

Stress levels are high during the finale of the inaugural season.

By Robert Canning

30 Rock had been building up to their season finale for several weeks now, with episodes that got better and better, funnier and funnier, constantly building on the great plotlines of its major characters. And now, with the big payoff finally at hand, we're left feeling a bit cheated. As finales go, this one was very anticlimactic. The storylines we've loved for weeks all failed to come to a satisfying end. Instead, they just ended.With so much happening in the last episode, 30 Rock implemented a "previously on" introduction for the first time. This was helpful but unnecessary. Liz Lemon did a fantastic job catching us all up with her childlike breakdown during her "for-the-purpose-of-this-bit" physical exam. "&#Array;And my boss is super mad at me because I know that he fell asleep on top of his fiancé." It started the show on a high note, but things quickly fell flat from there.Jack and Liz were both overly stressed in the episode, dealing with a missing Tracy Jordan and a fast approaching wedding, but neither character gave us much to laugh about. Jack's mother arrived (for Bianca's wedding, not his) and instantly fell for Liz while dismissing Phoebe. Famed stage star Elaine Stritch seemed like a good fit for Colleen Donaghy, but the "sassy old broad" was a generic, disposable character. The use of the heart monitor as a lie detector was a clever way to reveal the reality of Jack and Phoebe's relationship, but since we all knew their relationship was doomed, we figured we'd get a bigger (and funnier) ending than what was presented here.Meanwhile, Liz and Floyd were giving a long distance relationship a shot, but found it difficult to connect. During a videophone conversation, a poor signal and a bit of miscommunication led to Liz thinking Floyd wanted to break up. The idea of this didn't really bother Liz, and by episode's end, she'd made the decision to call it quits. It was a quick and unsatisfying end to a relationship we've been rooting for and that's been building for nearly half a season.

Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, Scott Adsit as Pete Hornberger

But the biggest disappointment of all was having Tracy hide from the Black Crusaders in Pennsylvania with Kenneth's cousin Jesse. This was the weakest storyline Tracy has had the entire season. The idea of the Black Crusaders organization out to get the comedian, which was the highlight of the previous episode, was basically ignored here for jokes about backwoods country folk. Even worse was the failed opportunity to pull off a hilarious parody of Stephen King's Misery. The elements were all there-- a crazy, on-the-run Tracy Jordan, a could-be funny Sean Hayes guest appearance-- but the show didn't even bother. Sure, Jesse eventually refused to let Tracy leave, but by the time that happened it was too little, too late and not very funny.One positive thing to come from this episode was just about every moment Dr. Spaceman was on screen. We love how he's become a great go-to background character for some completely out of nowhere comedic brilliance. On his instructional lovemaking book "You're Doing It Wrong": "My technique guarantees male orgasm." On his bloody doctor's coat: "What? This? No, no. I was at a costume party earlier this evening, and the hostess' dog attacked me so I had to stab it." Dr. Spaceman can do no wrong.After a string of stellar episodes, it's not surprising 30 Rock eventually faltered. We just wish it hadn't been with their season finale. And with all the storylines seemingly put to bed, the only thing we're left to wonder about over the summer is if Alec Baldwin will continue to be a part of the show. For the sake of 30 Rock, we hope he will be.